THE ROUND-UP 



53 



There is a good deal of rough but effective discipline and method in 

 the way in which a round-up is carried on. The captain of the whole has 

 as lieutenants the various wagon foremen, and in making demands for men 

 to do some special service he will usually merely designate some foreman 

 to take charge of the work and let him parcel it out among his men to suit 

 himself. The captain of the round-up or the foreman of a wagon may 

 himself be a ranchman ; if such is not the case, and the ranchman never- 

 theless conies along, he works and fares precisely as do the other cowboys. 



While the head men are gathered in a little knot, planning out the 

 work, the others are dispersed over the plain in every direction, racing, 

 breaking rough horses, or simply larking with one another. If a man has 

 an especially bad horse, he usually takes such an opportunity, when he 

 has plenty of time, to ride him ; and while saddling he is surrounded by a 

 crowd of most unsympathetic associates who greet with uproarious mirth 

 any misadventure. A man on a bucking horse is always considered fair 

 game, every squeal and jump of the bronco being hailed with cheers of 

 delighted irony for the rider and shouts to " stay with him." The antics of 

 a vicious bronco show infinite variety of detail, but are all modeled on one 

 general plan. When the rope settles round his neck the fight begins, and 

 it is only after much plunging and snorting that a twist is taken over his 

 nose, or else a hackamore a species of severe halter, usually made of 

 plaited hair slipped on his head. While being bridled he strikes 

 viciously with his fore feet, and perhaps has to be blindfolded or thrown 

 down ; and to get the saddle on him is quite as difficult. When saddled, 

 he may get rid of his exuberant spirits by bucking under the saddle, or 

 may reserve all his energies for the rider. In the last case, the man keep- 

 ing tight hold with his left hand of the cheek-strap, so as to prevent the 

 horse from getting his head down until he is fairly seated, swings himself 

 quickly into the saddle. Up rises the bronco's back into an arch ; his head, 

 the ears laid straight back, goes down between his forefeet, and, squealing 

 savagely, he makes a succession of rapid, stiff-legged, jarring bounds. 

 Sometimes he is a " plunging " bucker, who runs forward all the time while 

 bucking; or he may buck steadily in one place, or "sun-fish," that is, 

 bring first one shoulder down almost to the ground and then the other, 

 or else he may change ends while in the air. A first-class rider will sit 

 throughout it all without moving from the saddle, quirting* his horse all 

 the time, though his hat may be jarred off his head and his revolver out of 

 its sheath. After a few jumps, however, the average man grasps hold of 



* Quirt is the name of the short flexible riding-whip used throughout cowboy land. The term 

 is a Spanish one. 



